How to Get Your Best Self Tan At Home

Ned Stark warned us that winter is coming…could someone please summon his ghost to find out when, exactly, winter is LEAVING?!?! When you wake up one morning to discover that spring is upon us, will you look like a white walker? Start self-tanning now so you can sport a skirt on the first spring day. Here’s a foolproof plan to get you from ghostly to glowing likety-split.

Keep All Your Supplies In The Shower

We are talking scrub, body oil, body lotion and self-tanner. Apply it in the shower. The result: minimal mess, easy clean up and let’s be honest, you need to be as naked as your name day when slathering on self-tanner.

Don’t Hate…Exfoliate!

I use a body scrub twice a week year round. If you don’t regularly scrub your bod, this is the best time to start! Do it at the beginning of your shower, when skin is damp but not saturated – this helps the scrub to work optimally. If skin isn’t wet enough, the scrub won’t spread across your skin as easily (and can hurt!). If skin is too wet, the granules in the scrub will dissolve before they can really do their best work.

After Your Shower

Remove any excess water from your skin. No need to completely dry off – skin can still be damp. Use a body cream or oil (I use an oil for this) to gently cover knees, elbows, hands (especially in between fingers and palms), ankles and feet. The idea is to cover the places where self-tanner tends to collect, causing not-so-cute concentrated dark spots.

Alright Stop…Tanner Time!

The Travel Beauty Team is devoted to Institut Esthederm Sun Sheen Self-tanner because it is truly foolproof: never streaky and always natural-looking. If you have pale skin (as I do), you may want to ease yourself into self-tanning season by mixing your tanner with a body cream – at least for the first few applications. This allows for a subtler effect that you can build gradually. The new BB and CC creams for body are tailor-made for this task! They have a hint of hue and are designed to perfect skin tone and mask blemishes. They soften the self-tanner just enough to give a light, flawless application, while also providing the moisture your winter-ravaged skin is still craving.

Cover Everything

The tops of your toes, sides of your feet and every part of your skin leading up to your underarm – and don’t forget the backs of your legs. So many parts of the body can be exposed that you may not think of. Better to be safe than sorry.

Don’t Get Caught Tan-handed!

If you covered your hands well with oil or cream, you shouldn’t end up with deep-fried looking fingers. Still, it is important to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after applying self-tanner. Make sure to clean in between fingers and on the inside of wrists- two spots that are easy to overlook, and therefore easy to look over-tanned. You can even give your hands a quick exfoliation with your scrub if you think they need it.

Make sure product has fully dried before getting dressed so you don’t rub any tanner off on your clothes.

Follow these steps and you’ll be ready to show some skin as soon as The Winds of Winter stop blowing.